Posted on August 27, 2018
A new privately owned dredge is expected to keep the treacherous Oregon Inlet as deep as ever, clearing the way for larger boats to pass and adding about 2,000 jobs and $200 million to the local economy.
Wanchese and Manteo could see a new influx of boating traffic and marine commerce.
Rudee Inlet could get even cleaned out more often.
“If we can make this a success, it would be the first time in memory the (Oregon) inlet is available for what it was intended,” said Dare County manager Bobby Outten. “It’s exciting.”
EJE Recyling of Greenville plans to kick-start building the new dredge with a $15 million state loan. The company will repay the loan over 10 years by giving Dare County discounted dredging rates. The private firm will also pay the remaining cost of the approximately $30 million vessel. It will take about two years to build.
Dare County officials have worked for years to resolve Oregon Inlet shoaling and improve marine commerce.
A 2014 study showed Oregon Inlet’s total annual economic impact to Dare County is 3,319 jobs and $403.5 million in revenues. If the inlet were maintained, the study said, it would generate 5,120 jobs and $642.2 million in revenue.
Federal funding for Oregon Inlet dredging by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declined in recent years. Three years ago, Dare County decided to spend $3 million annually from occupancy taxes augmented with double that amount from the state to pay the Corps for dredging. Costs have equaled about $12 per cubic yard, Outten said.
Even then, the Corps’s three ocean-going dredges could not keep up with the work at Oregon Inlet, or other waterways along the coast from Maine to Texas, Outten said.
Dare County officials and others lobbied for money to get a local dredge.
“This new dredge will free up other assets,” said Jim Tobin, a Dare County commissioner and local businessman in the marine industry. “The Corps should be able to do more work at other inlets.”
The dredge would be based in Wanchese, a few miles away from Oregon Inlet where it will be quickly accessible and likely able to keep the channel at its recommended depth of 14 feet, Tobin said.
The inlet often fills to less than 5 feet, blocking access to all but smaller boats and limiting marine commerce.
The Oregon Inlet Task Force will schedule the dredge work with priority on Dare County waterways, including the ever-shoaling Hatteras inlet.
The Currituck, one of the Corps’ dredges used at Oregon Inlet, also works on Rudee Inlet in Virginia Beach and was expected there this month. Virginia Beach’s dredge is not capable of working in the ocean. Tobin has been asked to speak with Virginia Beach officials about Dare County’s private-public deal for a new dredge, he said.
The new dredge would have a capacity of about 500 cubic yards of sand or about 50 dump truck loads. The Currituck can haul about 300 cubic yards.
The state’s contribution to Dare County dredging and the loan to EJE Recycling comes from a shallow-draft inlet maintenance fund paid for with gas taxes and boat registration fees.
Source: The Virginian-Pilot
